Picture processing method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A picture processing method and apparatus are described. The method includes: detecting newly-added pictures in a photo album in a computing device; acquiring information about the newly-added pictures, the information including either or both of a photographing time and a photographing place; updating a to-be-processed picture set according to the information about the newly-added pictures; selecting a picture processing template matching the to-be-processed picture set; and processing pictures in the to-be-processed picture set by using the picture processing template. The method can automatically process a newly-added picture, thereby reducing time costs of a user for picture processing.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 15/169,102 filed May31, 2016, the entire content of which is incorporated herein byreference. U.S. Ser. No. 15/169,102 is a continuation application ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/CN2015/082338, filed on Jun.25, 2015, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201410301216.1, filed on Jun. 27, 2014.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates to the field of picture processingtechnologies, and in particular, to a picture processing method andapparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

At present, with the popularization of digital cameras, mobile phones,cameras, and the like, users take more photos and have more needsregarding photos. They not only have a simple need for recording as inthe past, but also hope to embellish a photo or make a photo interestingthrough processing.

In order to meet such needs of users, some manners for processing apicture according to a choice of a user, such as some picture splicingapplications, appear at present. However, traditional picture splicingapplications all require that a user manually selects several pictures,selects a template for processing these pictures, and then processesthese pictures by using the template to obtain one picture. It can beseen that a defect of such traditional picture processing methods liesin that a user needs to manually select pictures so that an entirepicture selection operation often requires a long process and results inhigh time costs of the user.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a picture processing method, which canautomatically process a newly-added picture and reduce time costs of auser for picture processing.

The present disclosure further provides a picture processing apparatus,which can automatically process a newly-added picture and reduce timecosts of a user for picture processing.

In one aspect, embodiment of the present application provides a pictureprocessing method. The method runs in a computing device. The computingdevice may include a memory, one or more processors, and programinstructions stored in the memory and executed by the one or moreprocessors. The method includes: detecting at least one newly-addedpicture in a photo album in the computing device; acquiring informationabout the at least one newly-added picture, the information comprisingeither or both of a photographing time and a photographing place;updating a to-be-processed picture set according to the informationabout the at least one newly-added picture; selecting a pictureprocessing template matching the to-be-processed picture set; andprocessing pictures in the to-be-processed picture set by using thepicture processing template.

A picture processing apparatus, including: a memory; one or moreprocessors; and one or more program modules, stored in the memory andexecuted by the one or more processors. The one or more program modulesinclude: a to-be-processed picture set determining module, configured todetect at least one newly-added picture in a photo album in thecomputing device, acquire information about the at least one newly-addedpicture, and update a to-be-processed picture set according to theinformation about the at least one newly-added picture, the informationcomprising either or both of a photographing time and a photographingplace; an automatic template selection module, configured to select apicture processing template matching the to-be-processed picture set;and a picture processing module, configured to process pictures in theto-be-processed picture set by using the picture processing template.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereinone or more instructions, which, when executed by a computing device,cause the computing device to: detect at least one newly-added picturein a photo album in the computing device; acquire information about theat least one newly-added picture, the information comprising either orboth of a photographing time and a photographing place; update ato-be-processed picture set according to the information about the atleast one newly-added picture; select a picture processing templatematching the to-be-processed picture set; and process pictures in theto-be-processed picture set by using the picture processing template.

It can be seen that the picture processing method and apparatus providedby the present disclosure can automatically select a to-be-processedpicture according to a photographing time, a photographing place, orother information of a newly-added picture, and select a pictureprocessing template, so as to process the selected picture by using thepicture processing template.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of implementation of a picture processing methodaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a hardware runningenvironment involved in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of implementation of Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of implementation of cluster analysis on a singlenewly-added picture in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of implementation of Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a picture processingapparatus according to the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention provides a picture processingmethod. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of implementation of the method. Themethod includes:

Step 101: Detect newly-added pictures in a photo album, acquireinformation about the newly-added pictures, and update a to-be-processedpicture set according to the information about the newly-added pictures,where the information includes either or both of a photographing timeand a photographing place.

Step 102: Select a picture processing template matching theto-be-processed picture set.

Step 103: Process pictures in the to-be-processed picture set by usingthe picture processing template.

The method may further include: presetting a to-be-processed picture setX and a candidate to-be-processed picture set Y, and setting both theto-be-processed picture set X and the candidate to-be-processed pictureset Y to empty sets. The to-be-processed picture set X is a picture setautomatically provided for a user in the present disclosure, and when auser triggers the picture processing method in the present disclosure,pictures in the to-be-processed picture set X are processed. Thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y is a picture set used to assistgeneration of the to-be-processed picture set X, and a candidate picturewhich may replace a picture in the to-be-processed picture set X isstored in the set.

When the to-be-processed picture set X and the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y are applied, a manner for updating the to-be-processedpicture set to-be-processed picture set X according to the informationabout the newly-added pictures in step 101 may be:

arranging the newly-added pictures according to a reverse chronologicalsequence of photographing times, and performing the following steps foreach newly-added picture:

determining whether both the to-be-processed picture set X and thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y are empty sets; and adding thenewly-added picture to the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y ifyes; or

determining whether the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y is emptyif not; and calculating a difference between the newly-added picture andthe to-be-processed picture set X if the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y is empty, determining whether the difference is less thana first preset threshold, and adding the newly-added picture to theto-be-processed picture set X if the difference is less than the firstpreset threshold, or adding the newly-added picture to the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y if the difference is not less than thefirst preset threshold; or

calculating a difference between the newly-added picture and thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y if the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y is not empty, determining whether the difference is lessthan a second preset threshold, and adding the newly-added picture tothe candidate to-be-processed picture set Y if the difference is lessthan the second preset threshold, covering pictures in theto-be-processed picture set X with pictures in the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y when a quantity of the pictures in thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y reaches a preset quantitativeupper limit, and emptying the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y,or emptying the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y if thedifference is not less than the second preset threshold, and adding thenewly-added picture to the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y; and

further emptying the to-be-processed picture set X and the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y after step 103.

In the foregoing process, a manner for calculating the differencebetween the newly-added picture and the to-be-processed picture set Xmay be:

using a photographing time of a latest picture or an average value ofphotographing times of all pictures in the to-be-processed picture set Xas a photographing time of the to-be-processed picture set X, and usingan interval between a photographing time of the newly-added picture andthe photographing time of the to-be-processed picture set X as thedifference between the newly-added picture and the to-be-processedpicture set X;

or using a photographing place of a latest picture or a central point ofphotographing places of all pictures in the to-be-processed picture setX as a photographing place of the to-be-processed picture set X, andusing an interval between a photographing place of the newly-addedpicture and the photographing place of the to-be-processed picture set Xas the difference between the newly-added picture and theto-be-processed picture set X;

multiplying an interval between a photographing time of the newly-addedpicture and a photographing time of the to-be-processed picture set X bya corresponding preset weight to obtain a product, multiplying aninterval between a photographing place of the newly-added picture and aphotographing place of the to-be-processed picture set X by acorresponding preset weight to obtain a product, and using a sum of thetwo products as the difference between the newly-added picture and theto-be-processed picture set X.

A manner for calculating the difference between the newly-added pictureand the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y is the same as themanner for calculating the difference between the newly-added pictureand the to-be-processed picture set X.

In step 101, the newly-added pictures may be local newly-added picturesor online newly-added pictures of a same account, that is, newly-addedpictures in another apparatus using the same account. For example, auser uses a same account to log into a related system of the presentdisclosure on a mobile phone and a tablet computer; in this case, forthe mobile phone, a newly-added picture in the tablet computer is anonline newly-added picture of a same account.

A specific manner for step 102 may be:

using a preset picture processing template as the picture processingtemplate corresponding to the to-be-processed picture set;

or calculating, according to information about the pictures in theto-be-processed picture set and matching conditions of pictureprocessing templates, degrees to which the picture processing templatesmatch the to-be-processed picture set, and using a picture processingtemplate having a highest matching degree as the picture processingtemplate corresponding to the to-be-processed picture set.

Steps 101 and 102 may be periodically triggered by a timer, and step 103may be triggered by an instruction of a user.

The following introduces specific embodiments in detail.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a hardware runningenvironment involved in an embodiment of the present invention. Thearchitecture of the hardware running environment at least includes:

at least one processor 201, at least one memory 202, at least onenetwork interface 203, at least one input apparatus 204 (such as a mouseand a keyboard), at least one output apparatus 205 (such as a displayscreen), and at least one communications bus 206, where 201, 202, 203,204, and 205 may be installed in a computing device.

The network interface 203 may include a standard wired interface orwireless interface (such as a Wi-Fi interface) or the like.

The communications bus 206 is configured to implement connection andcommunication between these components.

The memory 202 may be a high speed RAM memory, or may be a non-volatilememory, for example, at least one disk memory. The memory 202 may alsooptionally be at least one storage device located far away from theprocessor 201. As shown in FIG. 2, the memory 202, as a computer storagemedium, may include an operating system, a network communicationsmodule, and a picture processing program.

In the hardware environment shown in FIG. 2, the processor 201 mayreceive a local newly-added picture by using the input apparatus 204, ordirectly extract a local newly-added picture stored in the memory 202,or detect an online newly-added picture of a same account by using thenetwork interface, and then invoke the picture processing program storedin the memory 202 to execute the picture processing method in thepresent disclosure; and after processing is completed, the processor 201may send, by using the communications bus 206, a processed image to adisplay screen for display.

A Person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that, all or a partof processes in the method may be accomplished by relevant hardwareunder instructions of a computer program. The program may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, theprocesses of the method may be performed. The storage medium may be amagnetic disk, an optical disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a RandomAccess Memory (RAM), and the like.

Embodiment 1

This embodiment introduces a specific example of automatic selection ofa to-be-processed picture set and a corresponding picture processingtemplate. As shown FIG. 3, this embodiment includes the following steps:

Step 301: A timer triggers detection.

Step 302: Detect whether there are newly-added pictures, which mayinclude local newly-added pictures or online newly-added pictures of asame account; and if there are newly-added pictures, continue to performstep 303; otherwise, end this operation, and wait until the timertriggers detection next time.

Step 303: Acquire photographing times, photographing places, or otherinformation about the newly-added pictures, arrange the newly-addedpictures according to a reverse chronological sequence of thephotographing times, perform cluster analysis on each arrangednewly-added picture, and update a to-be-processed picture set. Aspecific manner for cluster analysis is introduced alone in thefollowing. It should be noted that there may be multiple manners forarranging the newly-added pictures, for example, according to a reversechronological sequence of photographing times.

When taking a picture, a terminal usually records a photographing timeand a photographing place, where the photographing time is generallyrecorded in exchange image file (EXIF) information of the picture. Byusing this technology, in the present disclosure, a photographing timemay be acquired from EXIF information of a picture and a photographingplace and other information may be acquired from a memory, so as to beused for sequencing and subsequent selection of a picture processingtemplate.

Step 304: Calculate degrees to which all picture processing templatesmatch the to-be-processed picture set. Calculation of matching degreesof different picture processing templates is defined by respectivematching conditions. A matching condition may be represented in a formof a matching function. For example, input of the matching function isphotographing information, which is mainly a photographing time, aphotographing place, or other information, of each picture in a pictureprocessing template, and output of the matching function is a matchingdegree, which is value within an interval [0,1].

Step 305: Use a picture processing template having a highest matchingdegree as a picture processing template corresponding to theto-be-processed picture set, end this operation, and wait until thetimer triggers detection next time.

The following specifically introduces an implementation manner ofcluster analysis in step 303. A to-be-processed picture setto-be-processed picture set X and a candidate to-be-processed pictureset candidate to-be-processed picture set Y are preset, and theto-be-processed picture set X and the candidate to-be-processed pictureset Y are set to empty sets. For a newly-added picture, it is preferablydetermined whether the newly-added picture can be put into the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y; if the newly-added picture is similar topictures in the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y, the newly-addedpicture is put into the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y; if thenewly-added picture differs greatly from pictures in the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y, the candidate to-be-processed picture setY is emptied, and the picture is put into the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y, that is, the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y isreset; and when there are enough pictures in the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y, X is covered by Y, and then Y is emptiedand reset. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of implementation of cluster analysison a single newly-added picture, which includes:

Step 401: Determine whether both the to-be-processed picture set X andthe candidate to-be-processed picture set Y are empty sets; and if yes,add the newly-added picture to the candidate to-be-processed picture setY; or if not, perform step 402.

Step 402: Determine whether the candidate to-be-processed picture set Yis empty; and if yes, perform step 403; otherwise, perform step 404.

Step 403: Calculate a difference between the newly-added picture and theto-be-processed picture set X, and determine whether the difference isless than a first preset threshold; and if the difference is less thanthe first preset threshold, add the newly-added picture to theto-be-processed picture set X, and end the process; otherwise, add thenewly-added picture to the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y, andend the process.

A manner for calculating the difference between the newly-added pictureand the to-be-processed picture set X may be:

using a photographing time of a latest picture or an average value ofphotographing times of all pictures in the to-be-processed picture set Xas a photographing time of the to-be-processed picture set X, and usingan interval (a unit may be hour) between a photographing time of thenewly-added picture and the photographing time of the to-be-processedpicture set X as the difference between the newly-added picture and theto-be-processed picture set X;

or using a photographing place of a latest picture or a central point ofphotographing places of all pictures in the to-be-processed picture setX as a photographing place of the to-be-processed picture set X, andusing an interval (a unit may be kilometer) between a photographingplace of the newly-added picture and the photographing place of theto-be-processed picture set X as the difference between the newly-addedpicture and the to-be-processed picture set X;

multiplying an interval between a photographing time of the newly-addedpicture and a photographing time of the to-be-processed picture set X bya corresponding preset weight to obtain a product, multiplying aninterval between a photographing place of the newly-added picture and aphotographing place of the to-be-processed picture set X by acorresponding preset weight to obtain a product, and using a sum of thetwo products as the difference between the newly-added picture and theto-be-processed picture set X, where a simplest manner is that both ofthe weights are 1 so that the time difference and the distancedifference may be directly added together to obtain the differencebetween the newly-added picture and the to-be-processed picture set X.

Step 404: Calculate a difference between the newly-added picture and thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y, and determine whether thedifference is less than a second preset threshold; if the difference isless than the second preset threshold, add the newly-added picture tothe candidate to-be-processed picture set Y, and when a quantity ofpictures in the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y reaches a presetquantitative upper limit, cover pictures in the to-be-processed pictureset X with the pictures in the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y,and empty the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y; or if thedifference is not less than the second preset threshold, empty thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y, and add the newly-added pictureto the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y.

A manner for calculating the difference between the newly-added pictureand the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y is the same as themanner for calculating the difference between the newly-added pictureand the to-be-processed picture set X.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment introduces a specific example of selection of a pictureprocessing template.

For a to-be-processed picture set to-be-processed picture set X, aphotographing time of a picture included in the to-be-processed pictureset to-be-processed picture set X is a meal time, and a photographingplace is not a residential place of a user. At present, there are 10picture processing templates, which are template 1 and template 2 totemplate 10, and each picture processing template corresponds to amatching function.

A manner for selecting a picture processing template for processing theto-be-processed picture set X is:

using photographing information of the picture in the to-be-processedpicture set X as an input value of matching functions corresponding tothe picture processing templates, separately calculating output valuesof the matching functions, and selecting a template having a largestoutput value as a picture processing template for processing theto-be-processed picture set X.

In this embodiment, template 1 is a picture processing template relatedto food, and an output value of a matching function thereof is 0.8;template 2 is a picture processing template related to travel, and anoutput value of a matching function thereof is 0.9; output values ofmatching functions of the other templates are all less than 0.8; andaccording to the result, template 2 is selected as a picture processingtemplate for processing the to-be-processed picture set X.

Embodiment 3

This embodiment introduces a specific example of processing of ato-be-processed picture set by using a corresponding picture processingtemplate (which is referred to picture splicing below). As shown in FIG.5, this embodiment includes the following steps:

Step 501: Trigger picture splicing. When a user uses a picture splicingfunction or another function that relies on picture splicing (forexample, the user needs to generate a thumbnail of a spliced picture),picture splicing is triggered.

Step 502: Splice, by using a corresponding picture processing template,pictures in a to-be-processed picture set together to form acorresponding spliced picture.

Step 503: Output the generated spliced picture to another module.

The present disclosure further provides a picture processing apparatus.FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the apparatus, whichincludes:

a to-be-processed picture set determining module 610, configured todetect newly-added pictures, and update a to-be-processed picture setaccording to information about the newly-added pictures, where theinformation includes either or both of a photographing time and aphotographing place;

an automatic template selection module 620, configured to select apicture processing template corresponding to the to-be-processed pictureset; and

a picture processing module 630, configured to process pictures in theto-be-processed picture set by using the picture processing template.

The to-be-processed picture set determining module 610 may include a newpicture determining submodule 611, configured to set a processed pictureset to-be-processed picture set X and a candidate to-be-processedpicture set candidate to-be-processed picture set Y, set both theto-be-processed picture set X and the candidate to-be-processed pictureset Y to empty sets in an initial state, and empty the to-be-processedpicture set X and the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y after thepicture processing module processes the pictures in the to-be-processedpicture set; and

further configured to arrange the newly-added pictures according to areverse chronological sequence of photographing times, and perform thefollowing steps for each newly-added picture:

determining whether both the to-be-processed picture set X and thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y are empty sets; and adding thenewly-added picture to the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y ifyes; or

determining whether the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y is emptyif not; and calculating a difference between the newly-added picture andthe to-be-processed picture set X if the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y is empty, determining whether the difference is less thana first preset threshold, and adding the newly-added picture to theto-be-processed picture set X if the difference is less than the firstpreset threshold, or adding the newly-added picture to the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y if the difference is not less than thefirst preset threshold; or

calculating a difference between the newly-added picture and thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y if the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y is not empty, determining whether the difference is lessthan a second preset threshold, and adding the newly-added picture tothe candidate to-be-processed picture set Y if the difference is lessthan the second preset threshold, covering pictures in theto-be-processed picture set X with pictures in the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y when a quantity of the pictures in thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y reaches a preset quantitativeupper limit, and emptying the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y,or emptying the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y if thedifference is not less than the second preset threshold, and adding thenewly-added picture to the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y.

In the apparatus, a manner for calculating the difference between thenewly-added picture and the to-be-processed picture set X or thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y by the new picture determiningsubmodule 611 may be:

using a photographing time of a latest picture or an average value ofphotographing times of all pictures in the to-be-processed picture set Xor the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y as a photographing timeof the to-be-processed picture set X or the candidate to-be-processedpicture set Y, and using an interval between a photographing time of thenewly-added picture and the photographing time of the to-be-processedpicture set X or the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y as thedifference between the newly-added picture and the to-be-processedpicture set X or the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y;

or using a photographing place of a latest picture or a central point ofphotographing places of all pictures in the to-be-processed picture setX or the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y as a photographingplace of the to-be-processed picture set X or the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y, and using an interval between aphotographing place of the newly-added picture and the photographingplace of the to-be-processed picture set X or the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y as the difference between the newly-addedpicture and the to-be-processed picture set X or the candidateto-be-processed picture set Y;

or multiplying an interval between a photographing time of thenewly-added picture and a photographing time of the to-be-processedpicture set X or the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y by acorresponding preset weight to obtain a product, multiplying an intervalbetween a photographing place of the newly-added picture and aphotographing place of the to-be-processed picture set X or thecandidate to-be-processed picture set Y by a corresponding preset weightto obtain a product, and using a sum of the two products as thedifference between the newly-added picture and the to-be-processedpicture set X or the candidate to-be-processed picture set Y.

The to-be-processed picture set determining module 610 may furtherinclude:

a local monitoring submodule 612, configured to detect local newly-addedpictures; and

an online monitoring submodule 613, configured to detect onlinenewly-added pictures of a same account.

In the apparatus, the automatic template selection module 620 mayinclude:

a template library 621, configured to save picture processing templatesand matching conditions corresponding to the picture processingtemplates; and

a template analysis matching submodule 622, configured to calculate,according to photographing information about the pictures in theto-be-processed picture set and the matching conditions of the pictureprocessing templates, degrees to which the picture processing templatesmatch the to-be-processed picture set, and use a picture processingtemplate having a highest matching degree as the picture processingtemplate corresponding to the to-be-processed picture set.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the picture processing method andapparatus provided by the present disclosure can automatically select apicture according to a time, a place, or other photographing informationof a newly-added picture, select a proper picture processing template,and process the selected picture by using the picture processingtemplate.

The foregoing descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, but are not intended to limit the present disclosure.Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within thespirit and principle of the present disclosure shall fall within theprotection scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A digital photo processing method, the methodcomprising: detecting, by processing circuitry of an informationprocessing apparatus, new digital photos that are added by a user;acquiring, by the processing circuitry of the information processingapparatus, one or a combination of time information indicating capturetimes of the new digital photos and location information indicatinglocations at which the new digital photos were captured; arranging thenew digital photos in chronological order based on the capture times ofthe new digital photos; determining whether a subset of the new digitalphotos are related to each other based on one or a combination of thecapture times of the new digital photos and the locations at which thenew digital photos were captured; selecting one of a plurality ofprocessing templates based on one or a combination of at least one ofthe capture times of the subset of the new digital photos and at leastone of the locations at which the subset of the new digital photos werecaptured; and processing the subset of the new digital photos accordingto the selected one of the plurality of processing templates to generatea single image.
 2. The digital photo processing method according toclaim 1, further comprising: generating the single image by combining atleast portions of the subset of the new digital photos according to theselected one of the plurality of processing templates.
 3. The digitalphoto processing method according to claim 1, wherein the detectingcomprises: detecting the new digital photos that are stored in a memoryof the information processing apparatus or a predetermined onlineaccount.
 4. The digital photo processing method according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of processing templates are associated withdifferent photo categories, and the selecting includes selecting the oneof the plurality of processing templates with the photo category of thesubset of the new digital photos based on the one or the combination ofthe at least one of the capture times of the subset of the new digitalphotos and the at least one of the locations at which the subset of thenew digital photos were captured.
 5. The digital processing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the subset of the new digital photos is asubset of consecutive ones of the new digital photos arranged inchronological order.
 6. The digital processing method according to claim1, further comprising: adding each of the subset of the new digitalphotos to a photo processing set, wherein at least one of the subset ofthe new digital photos is added to the photo processing set based on oneor a combination of the capture time of a last one of the subset of thenew digital photos previously added to the photo processing set and thelocation at which the last one of the subset of the new digital photoswas captured.
 7. An information processing apparatus, comprising:processing circuitry configured to detect new digital photos that areadded by a user; acquire one or a combination of time informationindicating capture times of the new digital photos and locationinformation indicating locations at which the new digital photos werecaptured; arrange the new digital photos in chronological order based onthe capture times of the new digital photos; determine whether a subsetof the new digital photos are related to each other based on one or acombination of the capture times of the new digital photos and thelocations at which the new digital photos were captured; select one of aplurality of processing templates based on one or a combination of atleast one of the capture times of the subset of the new digital photosand at least one of the locations at which the subset of the new digitalphotos were captured; and process the subset of the new digital photosaccording to the selected one of the plurality of processing templatesto generate a single image.
 8. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein the processing circuitry is configured togenerate the single image by combining at least portions of the subsetof the new digital photos according to the selected one of the pluralityof processing templates.
 9. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 7, further comprising: a memory, wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to detect the new digital photos thatare stored in the memory or a predetermined online account.
 10. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theplurality of processing templates are associated with different photocategories, and the processing circuitry is configured to select the oneof the plurality of processing templates with the photo category of thesubset of the new digital photos based on the one or the combination ofthe at least one of the capture times of the subset of the new digitalphotos and the at least one of the locations at which the subset of thenew digital photos were captured.
 11. The information processingapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the subset of the new digitalphotos is a subset of consecutive ones of the new digital photosarranged in chronological order.
 12. The information processingapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processing circuitry isconfigured to add each of the subset of the new digital photos to aphoto processing set, and at least one of the subset of the new digitalphotos is added to the photo processing set based on one or acombination of the capture time of a last one of the subset of the newdigital photos that was previously added to the photo processing set andthe location at which the last one of the subset of the new digitalphotos was captured.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring instructions which when executed by at least one processor causethe at least one processor to perform a digital photo processing method,the method comprising: detecting new digital photos that are added by auser; acquiring one or a combination of time information indicatingcapture times of the new digital photos and location informationindicating locations at which the new digital photos were captured;arranging the new digital photos in chronological order based on thecapture times of the new digital photos; determining whether a subset ofthe new digital photos are related to each other based on one or acombination of the capture times of the new digital photos and thelocations at which the new digital photos were captured; selecting oneof a plurality of processing templates based on one or a combination ofat least one of the capture times of the subset of the new digitalphotos and at least one of the locations at which the subset of the newdigital photos were captured; and processing the subset of the newdigital photos according to the selected one of the plurality ofprocessing templates to generate a single image.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 13, the method furthercomprising: generating the single image by combining at least portionsof the subset of the new digital photos according to the selected one ofthe plurality of processing templates.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the detectingcomprises: detecting the new digital photos that are stored locally orin a predetermined online account.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the plurality ofprocessing templates are associated with different photo categories, andthe selecting includes selecting the one of the plurality of processingtemplates with the photo category of the subset of the new digitalphotos based on the one or the combination of the at least one of thecapture times of the subset of the new digital photos and the at leastone of the locations at which the subset of the new digital photos werecaptured.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 13, wherein the subset of the new digital photos is a subset ofconsecutive ones of the new digital photos arranged in chronologicalorder.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 13, the method further comprising: adding each of the subset ofthe new digital photos to a photo processing set, wherein at least oneof the subset of the new digital photos is added to the photo processingset based on one or a combination of the capture time of a last one ofthe subset of the new digital photos previously added to the photoprocessing set and the location at which the last one of the subset ofthe new digital photos was captured.